How well does a Lacto-ovo vegetarian diet work?
Systemic efficacy
Although there are a number of case histories (ref 3-5) especially for patients following a macrobiotic diet, no cohort studies or controlled trials have been performed in this area. There is therefore a lack of evidence (ref 6; 7).
Component efficacy
Not applicable. A lacto-ovo vegetarian diet cannot be dissected into separate components in order to assess separately their efficacy.
Biological mechanism
No scientific studies have been carried out to examine the biological mechanisms involved in the lacto-ovo vegetarian diet as such. There is, however, an abundance of laboratory studies describing proposed beneficial mechanisms of components of a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet on cell cultures, animals, and risk factors in humans.
References
3. Carter JP, Saxe GP, Newbold V, Peres CE, Campeau RJ, Bernalgreen L. Hypothesis - Dietary-Management May Improve Survival from Nutritionally Linked Cancers Based on Analysis of Representative Cases. J Am Coll Nutr 1993;12:209-26.
4. Kushi LH, Cunningham JE, Hebert JR, Lerman RH, Bandera EV, Teas J. The macrobiotic diet in cancer. J Nutr 2001;131:3056S-64S.
5. Hildenbrand G. Five-year survival rates of melanoma patients treated by diet therapy after the manner of Gerson: a retrospective review. Altern Ther Health Med 1995;4:29-37.
6. Ernst E, Cassileth BR. How useful are unconventional cancer treatments? Eur J Cancer 1999;35:1608-13.
7. Ernst E, Cassileth BR. Cancer diets, fads and facts. Cancer Prevent Int. 1996;2:181-7.
